French Proficiency Exam – Study Guide
The Providence French proficiency exam is in three sections: vocabulary, grammar, and culture. This is a
multiple-choice format test. The test covers what would be included on a second semester final exam
for French I. The test corresponds roughly to the final six chapters of Book One of the C’est a Toi series.
The following are general topic lists for each section followed by several sample questions.
Vocabulary topics covered are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
countries and nationalities
professions
seasons and weather expressions
clothing and types of stores to buy it in/shopping in general
colors
adjectives of size
fruits and vegetables
food items
housing/rooms in a house/parts of a house/furniture
meals/table settings
parts of the body
health expressions
Sample questions:
1. If someone says to you, J’ai mal à la tête, what are they telling you?
a. that they have a headache
b. that they are feeling tired
c. that they are too cold
d. none of these are correct
2. How would you say I’m cold in French in the sense that you would need to put on a sweater?
a. j’ai chaud
b. j’ai froid
c. je suis froid
d. je suis chaud
e. j’ai fait froid
3. If you want to say that there is nobody at the door, how would you complete this sentence: Il n’y
a ________ à la porte.
a. jamais
b. quelqu’un c. personne
d. plus
e. jamais
4. Claire vient d’Angleterre. Elle est ____________.
a. espangnole
b. anglaise
c. anglais
d. allemande
5. When standing in the entrée of a house, would you usually have to go up to reach le grenier?
a. oui
b. non
Grammar topics covered are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
present tense of regular verbs
present tense of irregular verbs avoir, etre, mettre, prendre, venir, faire, devoir
expressions with de + definite article
expressions with a + definite article
forming questions with inversion
the adjective quell
c’est vs il est
aller + infinitive construction
irregular adjectives
placement of adjectives
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French Proficiency Exam – Study Guide
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
indefinite articles in negative sentences
comparative of adjectives
superlative of adjectives
partitive articles
passe compose with etre and avoir
irregular past participle
Sample questions:
1. Je voudrais _________ glace, s’il vouis plait.
a. du
b. le
c. des
d. de la
e. d’
2. J’aime _____________ glace.
a. de la
b. des
c. du
d. la
e. le
3. Which of the following sentences does not contain an error in the conjugation of the verb
devoir?
a. Je doit telephone au médecin.
b. Nous devoirons étudier por l’examen.
c. Elles doivent faire leurs devoirs.
d. Il dois dormir.
4. How would you say The grapes are less expensive than the cherries?
a. Les raisins sont moins chers que les cerises.
b. Les raisins est moins cher que le cerise.
c. Les raisins sont plus chers que les cerises.
d. None of these are the correct answer.
5. You wish to tell your little brother to finish his homework. Complete the following sentence:
__________ tes devoirs!
a. Finit
b. Finis
c. Finisons
d. Finissent
Culture topics covered are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
general French geography
food in France
shopping in France
family life in France
the health system and doctors in France
Paris (geography, history, the Metro)
the Francophone world
Sample questions:
1. Which daily meal is usually the largest one in France?
a. breakfast
b. lunch
c. dinner
2. France is shaped like a _____________.
a. square
b. hexagon
c. triangle
3. What is the name of the river that flows through Paris?
a. la Rhone b. la Loire
c. le Rhin
d. la Seine
2
d. octagon